


Call of Duty

by Blue Rose (Grovehove)



Series: The Battle of Jericho [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Teen Wolf (TV), The Sentinel
Genre: Adults taking charge, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out About Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grovehove/pseuds/Blue%20Rose
Summary: Sequel to The Walls of Jericho.Stiles has to deal with coming online as a Sentinel whilst still being involved in all the supernatural sh...enanigans.The Sheriff and Tony have to make adjustments to their lives because of their Sentinel Guide bonded sh... state.Jim Ellison is in deep sh...trouble with his Guide because Werewolves Man, Werewolves?





	1. Chapter 1

_Stiles stared wide eyed around him, the little fox still clinging onto his shoulder. This is amazing” he enthused “I’ve never flown in a helicopter before” Blair smiled, enjoying the kid’s uninhibited reactions. Then he looked at his Sentinel in curiosity. He could feel their bond pulsing. Jim was up to something._

_Ellison stared at the baby Sentinel. Stark wasn’t the only one who had noticed the kid’s reaction to the threat of danger._

_“So Stiles, why do you stink of Werewolf and your Dad doesn’t?”_

Those clever Bambi eyes opened wide in utter shock, and the kid went completely still.  
  
Blair hadn’t recognised it before despite the way he felt like Stiles was a kindred spirit but the kid had been in motion all the time they had been together. If it wasn’t his mouth, it was his hands, his expressions, the quick glances and flickering of his eyelashes, his quirky but oddly graceful body movement, even tapping his feet whilst standing up.   
It was as if all that abundant energetic sheer life force had come to a stop at Jim’s blunt question. The kid’s face paled to a shade of white Blair was not sure was even possible. Well damn, the kid was in trouble alright.  
  
But most of Blair’s attention was on his Sentinel. His damn secretive sentinel who was telling the truth about Werewolves. Blair’s eyes flickered to the pilot but his sneaky ass sentinel had switched to a private channel on their headsets. Though Blair knew Rafe wouldn’t betray their confidence, Jim obviously wanted to make sure only the three of them had this conversation.

Werewolves what the hell man? How had Jim managed to hide that from him? His Sentinel was in deep shit and from the slightly nervous dart of his beautiful blue eyes towards his irate Guide he damn well knew it. But he had to hand it to the big guy, the one glance at Blair was it, because he kept that stern demeanour focused on the now non fidgeting appalled youth.

Jim’s mouth quirked up with reluctant amusement “Annnnd breath kid” he ordered almost gently, then his face was back to stern and serious Sentinel Prime.

Stiles drew in much needed air in a quick gulp then all that energy burst forth and he was once again the embodiment of perpetual motion

“Werewolf?” the kid managed to stammer, cough and almost choke at the same time trying to get the word out and then his head was swinging round as if trying to spot the mythical being in the actual helicopter.  
    
“Nah, Dude, er I mean Alpha Dude, er, Alpha Prime Sentinel Dude, there are no wolves in California. Died out years ago. Don’t know why you are asking where the wolves are in California”

The kid offered Jim a weak desperate smile then seemed to forget that the older Guide and Sentinel could see him as he actually rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of his own response and then bit his lip nervously.  
  
Jim cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at him, although laughter was deepening the blue of his eyes. Stiles stared back with hopeful stubbornness though the word lame was resounding in his too active brain like a death knoll. But why did it have to sound like freaking Jackson douche canoe Whittemore?

“Seriously kid, that the best you can do?” the Sentinel Prime sounded just like his Dad when the Sheriff was dealing with perps. Right the Prime had been a cop once in Cascade. A Cop, an investigator, a seeker after truth and justice, a man of the law. And the most important and powerful Sentinel with the most important and powerful Guide in the whole of the USA.

And Stiles was trying to lie, obfuscate and wiggle his way out of telling the Dude about Beacon Hill and the Supernatural shit show his life had become. Well shit…ake mushrooms on toast. Stiles was so doomed, the nefarious Dr Doom would have to change his name to Daisy because the word Doom would now forever be attached to the name Stiles Stilinski.

Blair nearly winced in sympathy. He had been on the receiving end of Jim’s eyebrow of impending retribution often enough.  
Blair didn’t need any empathy to pick up the kid’s utter disconcertion but his nervous system was then flooded with the pure terrified panic and the unmissable sentinel determination to protect that the kid was leaking like a second hand sieve.

“Please, you can’t tell my Dad. I can’t lose him too. I can’t. I have to keep him safe” Blair wasn’t even sure if the kid realised what he had admitted in that despairing undertone. But it was loud enough for both Blair and Jim to hear. Blair saw the flair of recognition in Jim’s eyes as he too felt that instinctive sentinel drive pouring off the kid.  
  
A Guide’s hearing might not be on a par with a Sentinel but a full bond always provided improvements to the partners, though most of the Sentinels weren’t that bothered about the empathic part of their Guide’s gifts. As for the Guide, well the fact that Blair had been bonded to his Alpha Sentinel for nearly ten years meant that his own senses had steadily improved to well beyond mundane range so he could make out the words too.  
  
The cute little fox kit seemed to take offense at the kid’s building terror and angrily barked at the Alpha Prime Sentinel whilst baring its teeth.  Suddenly there was both a grey wolf and a black panther snarling at the baby Sentinel and his baby fox. 

“Guys, come on,” Blair soothed solemnly, hiding the intense desire to laugh, beneath a serene expression. The fox kit was now scrabbling to sit on top of Stiles head out of the way of his flailing arms and further away from the older and unimpressed spirit animals.    
Out of the corner of his eye he saw his big lug of a Sentinel suppress a wickedly delighted grin.   
  
Blair almost felt sorry for the poor kid, he wasn’t going to know what hit him. Especially if he had been keeping dangerous secrets from his own father who was the actual Sheriff, a newly bonded Guide and a retired Ranger buddy of Jim Ellison.  
  


Stiles might not realise that his sentinel instincts had been ramping up his natural need to protect his Dad but Jim was a force to be reckoned with when his own sentinel protective instincts kicked in. That would be multiplied by a factor of a thousand when kids were involved. Especially when he liked said kid. Oh yeah. Stiles was so screwed. He was going to have to spill the beans to his Alpha Prime whether he liked it or not.  But first Blair he had to deal with the excess of negative emotion and sooth the disgruntled and snippy spirit animals.  
  
“There’s not enough room in the copter for this nonsense, now calm down everyone”

It seemed like Stiles got over his shock pretty quickly and managed to regain the use of his voice because he started a rambling rant about lack of privacy, the UN rights of the child and for some reason a link between playing lacrosse, circumcision as an economic driver and the statistics on endangered or extinct animals in Northern California.   
  
Blair could see the way Jim’s eyes were lighting up with unholy glee listening to the kid trying to deflect. He frowned with disapproval at him, mainly to try to distract his own need to laugh but Jim was too focussed on Stiles.

Blair could have told Stiles that Jim had more than enough experience with the deliberate distraction technique of rambling over the years. Blair still did it because he loved the exasperated but amused look on the big guy’s face but he had developed a few new techniques which were much more effective starting with the kissing Jim breathless special. They all went downhill from there… literally. Not that he would recommend that course of action to the young Sentinel, except Man, the look on Jim’s face would be… no, nope, still not a good idea even if it would be hilarious.

Blair deliberately projected soothing calmness at the still distraught youngster and suddenly grinned wickedly at him. He echoed Jim’s first words to the kid.  
  
“Seriously Stiles, you are worried about keeping your Dad safe? Right now he is bonding to Tony Stark, you might have heard of him, Iron Man? Kick ass flying suit of armour and scourge of terrorists? Genius and Billionaire? Also the fact that those two will become an Alpha pair so your father the Sheriff, who is already employed as the protector of the County I might add, will be more than capable of protecting himself even without a possessive newly bonded Blessed Protector. And hey, Alpha Prime Sentinel and Guide of the USA might just have some nifty abilities that a baby sentinel hasn’t developed yet don’t you think?”   
  
The mockery was gentle but Blair’s message was deadly serious and Stiles knew it.   
  
Oh God, the Adults were taking charge.

 

“Come on Tony, did you really think the first time we did this it would be mind blowing?” John’s voice was kind despite his pink cheeks and the way he avoided looking at his reclining sentinel.

“Seriously, it only works that way in stories or unrealistic romance films. You know I have never done this before with a man and you were just a bit too… enthusiastic?” his voice tailed off at the continued silence from the gloriously naked man lying prone beside him but slightly turned away from John with his arm flung across his eyes.

John cursed his lack of practice with his Guide gifts, Tony seemed to have closed the budding link between them that was increasing after each imprint. How the hell had he done that the stubborn prideful little bastard?

“You know every man has a little trouble sometimes especially when they are stressed” he offered that horrible platitude as a desperate last resort. John wouldn’t blame the guy if he punched him for that one. Christ on a crutch why did he have to be the one to deal with this emotional shit just because he was the Guide? They weren’t horny young teenagers anymore so it should have been something they expected to happen. Especially with Stark's greater sexual experience.  

John’s eyes widened with horror as he saw Tony’s shoulders begin to shake and heard the hitch in his breathing. Was his Sentinel crying? Dear Lord. Was he actually crying? His hand instinctively reached for the bare shoulder just as Tony flung himself on his back and literally howled with laughter.

Anger flared bright and painful as John made to get out of the tumbled sheets before he strangled the fucker with his own lying deceitful teasing tongue. Then he felt himself pulled back and under the hard muscled body of his madly grinning Sentinel. The arc reactor was a heated brand against his own chest that for a few seconds distracted him and made him want to hunt the bastards down who had committed such a crime against this beautiful infuriating man.  
  
“Sorry, sorry Babe, don’t be mad. Just don’t be mad. Never had so much fun in bed before. You are amazing trying to comfort me and of course it wasn’t going to be perfect the first time”

John felt his anger and irritation drain away as he stared up into that gorgeous laughing face, and those damn pleading eyes. Those bloody eyes were his downfall. Why in the name of all that was holy did the bastard have the same coloured eyes as his Claudia and Stiles?

Then sheer wicked delight lit his Sentinel from within and flooded their link with arousal and laughter.   
  
“I’m a mechanic Sheriff, I fix things. Trial and error. Lots and lots of trial and error. You know what they say, practice makes perfect Johnny, practice makes perfect”, the bastard literally purred at him before their lips met and John Stilinski forgot all about being angry.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is still desperately trying to get rid of the Primes when he has a melt down.

It didn’t matter what Stiles said or tried to get the Primes to back off, Alpha Guide Sandburg just smiled gently at him and his big scary Sentinel raised that eyebrow so high Stiles wondered if it was going to float off the top of his head.  
   
The helicopter had landed in the private airport just outside town and a brand spanking new SUV with the SGC logo and a sentinel driver were waiting for them. Dear God just who were these guys? Well Stiles knew who they were of course he did. He knew the history of the SGC as well as any other kid his age, better in fact, hell he knew things his teachers didn’t because Stiles had fallen down that particular rabbit hole years ago and when did he ever not follow up on something that fascinated him. He could recite statistics about these two guys in particular, the fact the Sentinel Ellison had been in the Rangers and then a cop just like his Dad had drawn him in until he had begun to feel like they were family. To a kid who had just lost his Mom and nearly his Dad too, learning about the Primes had become his refuge from reality for a while. God he had even read Sandburg’s books. In fact his Dad could blame that reading for his new and improved diet. Guide Sandburg’s words about healthy eating had triggered another obsession in the younger Stiles especially when he had caught a look at his Dad’s medical report. Thanks to Guide Sandburg he knew all about the evils of certain types of cholesterol. His Dad might not be a Sentinel but healthy eating was good for everyone.   
  
Stiles heard Ellison mutter something about missing his Sweetheart and why couldn’t he drive himself anymore, whilst Sandburg just patted his arm soothingly totally ignoring the fact that his bonded Sentinel was calling someone else an endearment. What the hell was his life now?  
  
Their sheer obstinate refusal to see sense and just back off was why Stiles was reluctantly opening the front door to his home with the two Alpha Primes trailing him. He briefly considered darting in and locking the door behind him but that fled when he heard the snort of laughter from Sandburg and the drawled “Seriously Son” from the unimpressed big guy.

He didn’t pout like a little kid, he didn’t. He might not have shown them in with much grace but he wasn’t pouting and that cheek pinch and wobble thing the Alpha Guide did was seriously not okay, he was a teenager, it was, was abuse, definitely abuse, even if it felt like affectionate teasing, it was abuse. He wasn’t a little kid, for the love of Reeses Pieces, he had saved Tony Stark from being murdered!  
  
Stiles came to a sudden stop and went pale. His breathing began to speed up. He had saved Tony Stark from being murdered by that nasty old dude. Dude, he had saved Tony Stark. If he hadn’t gone to Malibu to give him a piece of his mind, the guy would be dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Murdered. No longer alive.  
  
Stiles knees went weak beneath him, he could hear his heart pounding like a drum, he couldn’t catch his breath, damn it he was having a panic attack after the damn event. What the hell?  This was stupid, the shit he had seen go down in Beacon Hill and carried on as if it was all normal. Argents and Werewolves and green lizard things and freaking magic hadn’t triggered this reaction but Tony bloody Stark did?   
His brain was betraying him, he was losing it big time. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t get any air into his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. There were black spots in front of his eyes.  
  
Suddenly he was surrounded by enormous arms, his head was resting against a muscular chest and he was being rocked gently.  His panting breathing the only sound until Ellison demanded bluntly “Do something Blair, help the kid”.    
“You are doing just fine big guy, he needs this” the voice of the powerful Guide was calm and fond, he continued before this bonded Sentinel could protest. “Stiles is wound up tighter than a top, he’s been suppressing his own emotions too much, I am not going to add to that. He needs to let go. His heartbeat will settle into sync with yours and then we will all talk”

Despite the ominous words about talking, a feeling of utter safety and protection as he rested against the Sentinel Prime seeped slowly into Stiles until his heart beat did start to sync with the big guy’s. For a few blissful seconds peace flooded his body. Stiles couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have anything to worry about. He literally couldn’t remember.   
He had just opened his mouth to politely ask to be released from the Sentinel’s hug because he was fine now thank you very much, when to his total and complete humiliation he burst into tears. Hard wracking gut wrenching tears that he couldn’t stop. He turned his head into the big Sentinel’s chest and refused to look at anyone. He just knew he was destroying the nice silk shirt the man was wearing but he couldn’t stop it.

“Blair” Ellison growled as he picked the kid up as if he weighed nothing. Damn it, the kid was too thin, his sentinel senses had catalogued the worrying thinness, the bags under the boy’s eyes, the paler than normal skin and the nervous twitching.  Ellison moved towards the comfiest chair in the homely living room, from scent and observation it was definitely John’s easy chair, and sat his ass down, still with the kid clinging to him like a distressed koala bear. The sound of the despairing sobs was making the Sentinel even more determined to deal with the shit that had been tossed this kid’s way. There was going to be payment for causing one of his baby sentinels this kind of pain. Damn straight.

Blair sank down to his knees beside the chair and lay a gentle hand on the kid’s shoulder. He could feel the helpless fear and exhausted embarrassment pouring of the boy. He decided to deal with that ridiculous embarrassment caused by the usual stereotypical macho bullshit young men were taught.

“Your Uncle Jim doesn’t think less of you because you are crying. Tears are natures release mechanism for pain and unhealthy repression” he reproved gently then gave a wicked smirk to his Sentinel which the boy didn’t see “You should see the guy when he stubs his toe, waterworks r us man”.  Ellison scowled at his guide but responded with a patently fake whine “But it hurts Blair”

For a second the sobbing was interrupted by a startled snort of laughter, but the kid didn’t raise his head from the damn patch on Jim’s chest. Blair watched him intently for what seemed a long time, the tears slowly drying up. Blair was about to start asking him questions in an effort to get the kid to open up when Stiles took in a deep hitching breath.

If Blair wasn’t well versed in “Jimspeak”, he would have missed the almost imperceptible shake of his head. He raised one eyebrow in silent protest.

“My best friend Scott is a werewolf and it’s my fault” the abrupt words seemed to spill as helplessly out of the kid as his tears. And like the tears they didn’t stop until he had got to the meeting with Tony, then the kid’s eyes and mouth fluttered shut in absolute exhaustion.

Neither Jim not Blair had interrupted him. Jim’s body had remained relaxed so as not to distract the boy but Blair could feel the rising protective rage in his Sentinel as much fuelled the boy’s words and by his guide’s own appalled anger.

Over the head of the sleeping teenager, Blair’s bright blue eyes met those of his Sentinel. “Babe, you can deal with the rest and I will gladly help but that Druid, he is mine” the calm murmured words were laced with enough menace that the exhausted boy shivered in his sleep.

Ellison smiled back at his beautiful Guide in perfect accord. All the idiots involved in this supernatural shit show were going to find out exactly what an Alpha Prime Sentinel and Guide would do to protect their own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blair and Jim have a plan.  
> Stiles has his first zone out.  
> Do not mess with Alpha Prime Sentinel Ellison

 “Rise and shine kid, Blair’s got breakfast ready. Up and at them Stiles because I will polish the lot off by myself and you don’t want to miss out on Blair’s blueberry pancakes.”

Stiles woke with a start to see the huge figure looming over him, his eyes widened and before his brain kicked into gear, one hand went out and he threw himself off the other side of his bed, hitting the floor with a couple of dull thuds. Ellison winced in regret. One of those sounded like his head smacking into the carpet and the other one was an elbow hitting the bed frame.

 Blair was going to have his hide. Well shit, he was going to tear himself a new one. He did know better than to startle a traumatised kid, especially since the kid was a baby sentinel who hadn’t yet evolved enough to deal with traumatic events the way trained adult sentinels could. 

He could hear the kid’s heart beat shoot up so fast that if Stiles didn’t calm down soon, he would pass out.

“Sorry Sport, it’s okay. Everything’s okay. You are safe.” Jim lowered his voice and slowed it down to a soothing cadence. He tried to project calm like Blair would. Just as a guide picked up some of a sentinel’s traits the longer and stronger the bond, a sentinel could develop low level empathic skills if they were so inclined. Blair had been his usual sneaky self about it, by making Jim spend an afternoon at the Cascade centre crèche.   
Damn straight he had used those skills to settle the wailing babies and toddlers, then he got his revenge on his Guide by eating junk food for a week. That it backfired on him spectacularly had never been mentioned by either of them again but when Blair introduced a topic that he knew Ellison would object to, the sneaky little shit prominently displayed a bottle of syrup of figs in the kitchen. Jim knew he was never going to live that one down.

Stiles’ head popped up over the end of the bed, those Bambi brown eyes staring at him with fear and then growing embarrassed anger. “Dude?” he exclaimed “Dude”. But before he could begin his epic rant at the Alpha Prime Sentinel, the big guy winced and ducked his head. “Seriously Stiles, Blair is going to kick my ass, you don’t need to do it too” 

“Too damn right I am going to kick your ass, what the hell did you do you big lug? Go and finish cooking the bacon and it will be up to Stiles if you get any. Seriously I heard the thud from the kitchen. Now shoo”.   
  
Stiles jumped again. Damn he hadn’t heard the Guide come up the stairs but Ellison must have. He never missed anything. So he knew Blair was there when he confessed. 

The Alpha Prime Guide pointed one finger at the bedroom door and Stiles stared in amazement as the bad ass Sentinel slunk out of his bedroom at the weight of disapproval being sent his way.

The door hadn’t even shut behind him when Blair called out. “Don’t you dare start to eat without us Man.”

Stiles got shakily to his feet and stared at the fuming guide. “Um, I’ll just go shower okay” he edged away from Blair. Stiles might not have heard him arrive but the anger he was projecting was as obvious as the pretty nose on his face. Ewww. No thinking of Blair or Uncle Jim as anything other than Blair or Uncle Jim. That was just not on.

Even the Guide’s curls looked annoyed. Blair turned his frowning face back towards Stiles and then began to laugh sheepishly “Sorry Stiles. He really didn’t mean to frighten you. Go have your shower and then come down to breakfast”

Blair watched the bathroom door close behind the kid. Stiles hadn’t noticed when Blair had eased his fear further so that his pulse was back within normal parameters. The kid was going to have a hard enough day as it was without his body giving him shit for something that wasn’t his fault.

Blair and his Sentinel had a plan. It was a plan that would no doubt meet with strong disapproval from the baby sentinel but that was just tough. It was time he remembered that he didn’t have to deal with everything himself. Besides Jim was really looking forward to taking Stiles to school.

As the Alpha Prime Sentinel he could initiate random checks on the facilities any public body had on offer for Sentinels and Guides. Then there was a long overdue conversation to be had with the new Principal of the school. 

Stiles had just taken a mouthful of the most delicious pancake his mouth had ever had the pleasure of entertaining when he spat it back out again. His eyes watered as he coughed up the remnants that had gone backwards down his throat instead of joining its brethren on the plate in front of him. The big guy patted his back gently as Blair handed him his glass of water. It was all their fault anyway. Did they really just say what he thought they said?

“No, no way, nope, niet, not happening Dudes” Stiles began once his coughing had stopped. “No way am I being taken to school like a toddler. Not going to happen” he jabbed his fork into the stack of pancakes that Blair had thoughtfully replaced to emphasise his point. The smell of the hot pancake mixed with the blueberries seemed to permeate through the room, and Stiles took a deeper breath. It was so delicious, the aroma lingered in his nostrils and he could feel it making its way down to his taste buds. He had to concentrate on that smell. It was the best smell in the whole world. Nothing else mattered but that smell.

“Stiles sweetheart, come on. Come back now. Can you feel me touching your face. Can you feel my fingers, just tapping your cheek bone. Come on Stiles, come back now. I have you. You are safe.” 

First he heard the voice, calm and kind, when there had only been static. The voice impinged on his consciousness, and then he felt the gentle tap tap on his cheek. It was too much. All too much.

“Stiles, use your dials sweetheart, you know what they are don’t you? Lower the dial for scent Stiles until it’s comfortable, now go through each of your other senses one by one. Touch is irritating you right now, lower the dial. Sound and then sight. Tell me how you are doing Stiles”

“Dials Blair?” Stiles grinned weakly at him “Dude that is so last decade, don’t you have a smart phone? You know you should be swiping to the left now to turn things down”

Blair stared at him, then his eyes drifted over to his Sentinel who was staring at the kid as if he had grown a second head. He couldn’t help it, Blair began to laugh.

Stiles sniggered at Blair’s reaction, then tried to stand. Shit he felt all wobbly. Ellison was suddenly behind him but this time his looming was a comfort. Stiles couldn’t allow that to carry on though because he had to get to school. He took a glance at the kitchen clock and he had ten minutes before he was officially late. Panic set in, he needed to get his stuff, until Blair that sneaky sneak, took his hands in his and made him sit back down again.

“Sorry Sport no school today” Ellison told him and Stiles was pretty sure the big guy wasn’t sorry at all.

“But” he only got as far as the one word when Ellison continued sternly. “You have just had your first zone out. You have to be monitored for twenty four hours by a bonded Guide to ensure that there are no after effects. And no Stiles this isn’t just for you. This is S&G regulation which you will not be flouting and is there for the protection of the emerging Sentinel and for the people around them.” It was the Alpha Prime Sentinel speaking to him, expecting obedience from his Sentinel. It definitely wasn't his indulgent Uncle Jim.  
  
Blair could feel the irritated anger coming off the boy in waves. Poor kid was an absolute mess of emotions and a lot of people were going to pay for that one way or another. In the mean time before the objections raced off the kid’s agile tongue and the two Sentinels got into an argument that Jim would win but Stiles would utterly resent him for, it was time for Blair to intervene.

“You wouldn’t mean to harm anyone Stiles but what if you zoned driving your car, or walking across the road, or on the stairway in school or in gym? The rules and regulations are there because of practical reasons Stiles, not to make your life more difficult. So take advantage of an officially sanctioned S&G day off from school and set us up with some video games. I am going to kick your ass kid whilst Uncle Jim has a few phone calls to make.”

Stiles closed his open mouth in shock and reluctant awe at the feisty grinning Guide. What had he done to deserve this? First there was Tony Stark who could out class him with the art of the snark, now he had met someone else who could talk rings round him. He must never let his Dad find out or he would mock his son mercilessly. At least Stiles could take Blair down on the games front.

Ellison watched his Guide and the stunned teenager make their way to the living room. He pulled out his cell. “Swipe to the left indeed. Cheeky little brat” he snorted softly. He knew Stiles heard him because the kid swung his head round to smirk at him. Ellison smirked right back as he continued to stare at the kid whilst he sent a text with all the dexterity of an actual teenager. Stiles laughed and turned back to Blair who was utterly failing at setting up the games system.

The cell phone beeped at him. Jim glanced down at the swift response to his text. He smirked again. This time it was smug and very dangerous. It showed a cell number and a name. “Araya Calavera.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I am doing Nano this year so there has been a delay on updating with all my WIPs. Much to my surprise the more I write, the more I write, so have this next chapter courtesy of the insanity of NANOWRIMO. Enjoy. 
> 
> No infringement intended.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bit where two grown men panic and lose their shit, instead of talking things through properly. Ugh feelings.
> 
> Miscommunication, misunderstanding and missed coffee. 
> 
> Also Eric Clapton saves the day.

Stern blue eyes stared into sleepy but defiant brown. “Step away from the coffee pot, Stark.” The order was clear and unequivocal. He had to know that the man meant business.

The beautiful bastard merely smirked at him as he opened those pretty eyes wider in faux innocence, as he inched closer to the prohibited treasure.

Even Stiles knew better than to disturb his father before that first sip of life giving nectar. Did Little Lord Rich kid think he stood a chance against an experienced and, more importantly, caffeine deprived Officer of the Law? The man might be sex on legs and his Sentinel but he was trying to take John’s coffee god damn it. Not going to happen, now or in the future.   
Besides the man drank way too much of it. Excess seemed to be Stark’s middle name. Really his Guide was just looking out for his health. The same way Stiles looked out for his father’s health by consuming all the red meat in the house.  

Tony nearly laughed out loud as he heard his Guide actually growl when he took a step closer to the disputed coffee. Was this how he behaved when he was caffeine deprived? The sexy Sheriff had been fast asleep, exhausted after their spectacular bout of bonding sex when Tony had risen and stumbled into the penthouse kitchen where his darling J already had the coffee machine prepared. So his Guide was not aware that this was the second pot of the morning.  
  
Tony had got up early enough to check out the state of his workshop after the events of the night before and make sure his bots had been safely recharging out of the way when Stane was on his rampage. Bloody bastard. SHIELD had better be dealing with him properly or he would sic a bloody Jericho on their asses. But so not the point right now. The point being that he had left his exhausted guide asleep in their bed, (it took Tony a brief moment for him to overcome his awe at the aptness of that phrase and if it had been anyone else saying out loud what he had been thinking, he would have mocked them mercilessly. He must remember not to tell his honey bear or he would never hear the end of it. Rhodey would so hold that over him until the end of time.)

Now the deliciously rumpled man was standing in front of him, barring him from his own coffee machine and it amused the fuck out of Tony. He raised his hands in mock supplication and backed up a step, watching the satisfied curl of the Sheriff’s lips and the way he almost inhaled the delicious brew with those gorgeous blue eyes of his closed in appreciation.

“Should I bow out gracefully now and leave you two together?” Stark teased trying to ignore the persistent growing need to take the man back to bed. He hadn’t been this horny since his teenage years despite all the media stories about his legendary refractory time and his insatiable sexual appetites. The poor dears had to make their stories better than the last to get their fifteen minutes of sordid fame. But Tony had been too amused and too busy to correct any of those assumptions. He just didn’t care.

Those eyes opened and pinned him like a butterfly to a board, Tony caught his breath at the frankly sexual assessing regard and the slow wicked smile that was revealed when the Sheriff lowered the mug, licked his lips and god damn actually moaned his pleasure at the taste. He looked Tony up and down and that smile got wider as he put the mug back to his mouth and drained the rest of the liquid. Tony couldn’t take his eyes off him. He was seconds away from just picking his Guide up as he watched the way his throat worked to swallow every last drop, when he saw the tantalising gleam in those blue eyes as if he knew exactly what he was doing to him. Every instinct shuddered to a halt whilst his brain kicked in. Of course the Guide knew what he was doing to him.  
  
He was a guide. It confirmed all of Tony’s worst fears. Everyone in his bloody life tried to manipulate him. As if that hadn’t been proved conclusively last night with his ever loving god father Obadiah Stane. Another one he was supposed to trust so that he could be led around with a ring through his nose.

Anger, disappointment and grief mixed in his gut like a poisonous cocktail. Everyone wanted something from him. Did the guide think he was now on easy street with a sugar daddy sentinel?

Tony could feel his paranoia taking hold but he was making no real effort to stop it. Fuck it even SHIELD had their grubby fingers in his pies. Rushman was a perfect example and his so called Guide just happens to turn up just at the right moment.

Tony didn’t see how the Sheriff had straightened up and was watching him with concern.   
Before John could open his mouth to ask the Sentinel what was the matter, why his emotions had gone from light-hearted amusement to an intense bitter rage, Tony walked away from him and headed towards the lounge area.   
  
The coffee forgotten John nearly missed the counter when he put down the mug as he hastily followed the Sentinel.  And didn’t that just yank his chain and push all his buttons.   
John Stilinski didn’t follow anyone like a love sick puppy. He resented the hell out of the guide’s need to assure the Sentinel’s welfare. For god’s sake, the guy was an adult, if he wanted to throw a tantrum about something, then fine, let him do it. It shouldn’t mean that John had to go crawling after his stubborn ass to make sure he was okay. John had his own life to lead and he had been doing it for a long time, he had enough to do without having to fret about a grown ass temperamental sentinel. His grown ass temperamental sentinel.   
  
And for the love of all that was reasonable, he had just woken up. He had only drunk three quarters of a cup of coffee when he should have been on his second right now to ease himself into the day. What the hell had riled his damn sentinel so badly when they hadn’t been awake and aware together for more that fifteen minutes?

“I need a drink”. Tony ground out. He didn’t know how to deal with this, any of this, but a few under his belt would at least slow down the panic crawling through his veins. He took one of the crystal glasses and reached for one of the whiskey decanters. He didn’t have a preference at the moment, they were all the best money could buy so anyone of them would have the required effect.  It was the effect he wanted not the actual taste.  
  
“You want one?” The question was chilly, begrudging and he only asked as an afterthought because he heard the guy follow him as he made his way to the bar. Damn stupid intrusive sentinel senses.   
  
“No.” The Sheriff barked, no not the Sheriff, his guide, John. There was a strange note in his voice that stopped Tony in mid stride. He looked at the man, one eyebrow raised and Stilinski raised his chin. It reminded Tony of the way the kid had been stubbornly defiant in front of those SHIELD assholes. What? He didn’t realise he said it aloud but that chin went up further and the guy answered.  
  
“I had a problem with it, with drinking, when Stiles was younger, when his Mom died” there was a pause as the Sheriff seemed to swallow hard then he admitted reluctantly through gritted teeth.    
“Truth be told I still have a problem with it, so I don’t touch it, not a drop since I made Stiles a promise. When you wake up on the sofa from a drunken stupor and see your eight year old kid in his dirty pjs trying to open a tin of something to eat because there is nothing else in the house, it’s definitely not your finest moment, especially when you can hear your dead’s wife voice in your head begging you to look after each other. So no Stark, I won’t drink with you, not now, not ever.” 

The Sheriff’s cheeks were flushed with shame but he was calm and collected and that damn chin stayed at the challenging stubborn angle. Tony felt the intense need to go to him, lick at his lips and those red cheeks and just hold him to offer comfort. Fuck that. He was Tony Stark, he had never offered anyone comfort in his life, (well except Rhodey, and the original Jarvis, and Pepper when her cat died and Happy but he didn’t count them).He was not going to be a slave to any sentinel urges. He was his own man, he was not going to be made to do something because of his biological makeup.

But without even looking at the glass in his hand because he couldn’t take his eyes from the frowning guide, he flung it away so hard that it hit the wall and smashed.   
The Sheriff actually scowled at him as if the action had offended him. “That needs to be cleaned up” Tony shrugged his shoulders indifferently “That’s what I have a cleaning service for. JARVIS will make sure they are aware of the broken glass, isn’t that right Jay?” “Of course Sir, but as you are still within your bonding period may I send one of the bots,“You” perhaps, instead of allowing a person in this safe space?” The calm voice of the AI seemed to have a relaxing effect on the sentinel because his shoulders dropped slightly.

John wondered sourly if everyone and their dog just cleaned up Stark’s mess without him taking responsibility for his own actions. Then he realised that he was reacting to the whirlpool of emotions being fed across the bond link by the Sentinel. He took a deep breath, he would need to calm things down. He just needed a moment to deal with his own spiking emotions first. He had never done this before so he didn’t want to mess it up. This was too important.

Tony didn’t like the look of the Sheriff’s face. How dare he judge him when he knew nothing about him? His rage ramped up again and he smiled coldly “So Sheriff darling, what is it you want from me exactly?”

Tony had the satisfaction of seeing the question flummox the man. There was honest confusion on his face and for a second there was a slither of doubt worming its way through his anger but he ignored it as he listened to the guide’s response.

“What? What do you mean Tony?”

“Yeah that’s about right, it’s always Tony when they want something. I mean now we are bonded what do you want from me? New house, new car, donation to a favourite charity? How can I reward my guide today for all your hard work putting up with me?” The angry bitter words spilled from between his teeth as he watched the confusion last for about three seconds until the words hit. He saw the hurt first and then John’s face went utterly blank and the link between them dulled.   
For some reason Tony’s stomach swooped worse than when he fucked up in the Iron Man suit.

“Yeah that’s about right” John parroted Tony’s words back at him but with ice instead of fire. “Sentinel entitlement treating Guides like whores. Been happening for centuries. Even worse when the Sentinel is richer that Croesus.” The unadulterated disdain in his voice shredded Tony but John didn’t stop “I have a kid and a job and a life to get back to. Might not mean much to you but it means the world to me. I don’t need your god damn money, I don’t want your god damn money and let’s be honest about this, I need you about as much as you need me Mr Stark.”   
  
And then his guide walked away from him. His guide walked away from him. Tony just stood there whilst his guide walked away from him.

He must have said the words aloud because the next thing he heard was the disapproving voice of his baby boy. “No Sir that is not correct. Your guide is not walking away from you. You drove him away from you.” Unspoken was the knowledge that it was Tony’s instinctual response when he felt threatened. Tony’s rage drained away. What the hell? Why would he do that to his guide? They hadn’t even finished bonding properly and he was driving his guide out of the door. Literally because he heard the house alarm as the entrance was opened.

Tony took off like a bat out of hell but he was too late. He stood at his front door and watched as the Sheriff drove away in the battered old blue jeep that had been abandoned in his court yard.  
  
Horror hit his gut, the damn thing was a death trap. He couldn’t allow his guide to drive in that. It wasn’t safe. He need to make sure that his guide was safe.

John was too angry to notice for the first half an hour. He concentrated on the drive so he didn’t have to think about the idiot that was his so called Sentinel. “Arrogant, suspicious self-centred, stupid cynical sentinel bastard” he muttered on repeat to himself on the drive until he finally calmed down enough to take in more of his surroundings.  
  
Then all Stiles doom laden predictions about his heart nearly came true as it almost failed him when he saw what or rather who was flying behind him in a red and gold suit. Thank god the road was relatively quiet so that no one else had noticed the way he swerved. It was embarrassing, he was a County Sheriff, he knew how to drive correctly and safely and again it was his damn Sentinel’s fault. Bloody irresponsible maniac. Did Iron Man think he was going to follow him all the way to Beacon Hills? That was so not happening.   
  
His cell buzzed with an incoming call. The phone answered itself. “Guide Stilinski, will you accept a call from Sentinel Stark?” JARVIS’s voice was polite and utterly professional and the Sheriff almost felt bad for him when he gave him his answer. “I don’t drive and talk on a cell phone JARVIS, it’s irresponsible and dangerous. Goodbye” and he flicked the off button.

The next thing he knew that other irresponsible and dangerous idiot in his life flew in front of the jeep and hovered in front of the windscreen, flying backwards as John refused to stop. He even had the utter gall to wave at John repeatedly. Then Tony must have activated his external speakers because “I shot the Sheriff” by Eric Clapton was blaring out and the mad bastard was dancing to it as they travelled. It was the most surreal thing John had ever seen in his life and that included that visit to the blue desert where he first met this lunatic.  
    
John pulled over to the side of the road. He rested his head against the steering wheel as he began to laugh helplessly.

“Hey” Tony’s voice was uncharacteristically soft as he slid into the vehicle beside his guide. He had left the suit standing beside the jeep.

“Hey” John answered as he raised his head and looked at the man.

“So that went all to shit because I’m a paranoid bastard?” Tony winced when he said it but he looked his guide straight in the face. “Look, I know you want to go home. That’s your right but please this jeep, its’ not safe. I need you to be safe.  There are plenty of cars at the house or I can call the jet or…” he started in a rush when John hadn’t answered.

John raised his hand and cupped the idiot’s face and Tony just shut up as he lent into his guide’s soothing touch.  

“It’s okay Sentinel, I’ll come back now but we need to talk to Blair and Jim. I never took the Guide training that dealt with high level Sentinels, hell I barely had any formal training at all, just what I learned from my parents and I know damn well you haven’t had anything to do with the SGC lately, if you ever had anything to do with them at all.  We can’t keep doing this to each other. We need to understand what’s happening to us and why before we can get the bond really settled”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another one. Lots of angst but please, two grown men with issues being pulled into a relationship neither wanted. Not going to be easy at the start. They are going to have to work for it. Hope this does the pair of them justice. xx

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, not sorry about the Title. John is all about Duty and Stiles+Tony=video games… well duh?  
> And it’s a war game (I think? Don't judge, I'm not into shoot em ups)
> 
> This story starts directly after the end of The Walls of Jericho. So if you haven’t read that it might not make much sense at first.
> 
> It deals with developing relationships, deteriorating relationships and just deserts. Definitely not canon or timeline compliant.
> 
> Of course I would start a new story before finishing anything else but the Battle of New York is being a bit of a bugger, the next chapter is fighting me so have this instead. 
> 
> More tags will be added as the story develops but let me just say that the Adults are taking charge and sorting sh... so there. My version of a fix it but with Sentinel and Guides and common sense spiced with a dash of humour. No infringements intended . Enjoy


End file.
